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Creature Feature: Shapeshifters in Romance Fiction

Picking up where I left off when I last talked about cat shifters, today I’m contemplating the current popularity of shapeshifters in romance fiction. While werewolves are probably the most common and popular in romance fiction right now, there’s a lot of interest in other kinds of shifters as well. I, myself, have written dragon shifters (in The Ice Dragon and Prince of Spies) and a cougar shifter (Sweeter Than Wine).Here’s what Wiki says about shapeshifters: “Shapeshifting is a common theme in folklore, as well as in science fiction and fantasy. In its broadest sense, it is a change in the physical form or shape of a person or animal…shapeshifting involves physical changes such as alterations of age, gender, race, or general appearance or changes between human form and that of an animal, plant, or inanimate object…Shapeshifting may be used as a plot device, as when Puss In Boots tricks the ogre into changing into a mouse so he may eat him; it may also include a symbolic significance, as when the Beast’s transformation at the end of Beauty and the Beast indicates Beauty’s ability to accept him despite his appearance.”

I don’t think I’ve ever gone quite that far, though Lana’s discovery of Roland’s ability to shift from dragon to human form in The Ice Dragon does come as a bit of a surprise to her. I think it’s intriguing to find out there’s more to the person or animal one meets at the beginning of a novel. And the way those new revelations play into the story make it interesting and fantastical. Of late, I’ve really been enjoying writing a series of cat shifters in an urban fantasy setting that I hope to find a home for soon.

For some reason, cat shifters fire the imagination and make one think immediately of the pleasures of the flesh. Cats are sinuous, slinky and sexy, where wolves seem tough, mighty and all alpha. Cats on the other hand, have cunning, stealth, soft fur and a very sexy way of moving. Seems natural we romance writers would take them to our hearts and turn them into heroes and heroines in our flights of fantasy.

So out of curiosity, what’s your favorite form of shapeshifter, other than wolves? Dragons? Cats? Snakes? Sea creatures? What’s your take? Enquiring minds want to know!